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Capstone 2012 First Quarter Production Results

Published on Thursday, 12 April 2012 07:14
Written by TradersHuddle Staff

First Quarter Production of 18.6million pounds of Copper in Concentrates

VANCOUVER, April 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone")
(TSX: CS) today announced its operating results for the three months
ended March 31, 2012 for its two operating mines, Cozamin and Minto.
Combined production totalled 18.6million pounds of copper in concentrates with additional by-products of
lead, zinc, silver and gold.

Q1 2012 Production

Q1 2012

Copper in concentrates(millions of pounds)

Cozamin

13.0

Minto

5.6

Total

18.6

"Operations at Cozamin ran exceptionally well in the first quarter,
achieving record quarterly production for the second straight quarter,"
said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Minto continued to
process lower grade stockpile, however fresh ore from the Area 2 pit
will start feeding the mill in April, with production at Minto
scheduled to increase above the first quarter level for the remainder
of the year."

Operational Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2012

Production of 18.6 million pounds of copper contained in concentrates.

By-product production of 4.1 million pounds of zinc, 0.8 million pounds
of lead and 430,532 ounces of silver in concentrates. Final gold
production is not available since assaying is conducted off-site, but
is estimated at 2,088 ounces for the quarter.

Cozamin achieved record quarterly copper production for the second
straight quarter. Production has gradually shifted from the Avoca zone
to the 13C blocks in accordance with the 2012 mine plan. Development
in the Mala Noche Footwall Zone continued during the quarter with 213
metres of development and 8,957 tonnes of ore produced from the zone.

At Minto, first quarter production continued from the stockpile with the
mill feed running about 90% low grade sulphide material and 10% higher
grade partially oxidized ore. Mining in the Area 2 pit has begun to
release ore consistent with the resource model projections, which will
be delivered to the mill in April. Milled ore grade is expected to
increase to an average of 1.5% copper in the second quarter.

Q1 2012 Operating Details

Cozamin

Minto

Q1 Total

Production (1)
(contained in concentrates)

- Copper (000s pounds)

12,984

5,631

18,615

- Lead (000s pounds)

830

-

830

- Zinc (000s pounds)

4,098

-

4,098

- Silver (ounces)

404,673

25,859

430,532

- Gold (ounces)

-

2,088

2,088

Mine

- Tonnes of ore mined

290,699

61,416

352,115

Mill

- Tonnes processed

290,222

319,838

610,060

- Tonnes processed per day

3,189

3,515

6,704

- Copper grade (%)

2.18

0.94

1.53

- Lead grade (%)

0.23

-

0.23

- Zinc grade (%)

0.98

-

0.98

- Silver grade (g/t)

61.2

3.3

30.8

- Gold grade (g/t)

-

0.32

0.32

Recoveries

- Copper (%)

93.1

84.5

88.6

- Lead (%)

57.8

-

57.8

- Zinc (%)

65.5

-

65.5

- Silver (%)

70.9

76.7

74.0

- Gold grade (%)

-

64.1

64.1

Concentrates (1)

- Copper concentrates (dmt)

21,947

7,482

29,429

Copper (%)

26.8

34.1

30.7

Silver (g/t)

518

107

303

Gold (g/t)

-

8.7

8.7

- Lead concentrates (dmt)

609

-

609

Lead (%)

61.9

-

61.9

Silver (g/t)

1,998

-

1,998

- Zinc concentrates (dmt)

3,767

-

3,767

Zinc (%)

49.4

-

49.4

(1) Adjustments based on final settlements will be made in future
periods.

Outlook

Capstone's 2012 guidance for 80 million pounds (± 5%) of copper in
concentrates remains unchanged. Operations at Cozamin ran very well in
the quarter and production at Minto was consistent with guidance and
the annual mine plan, which calls for the processing of low grade
stockpile material through the early part of the second quarter.

Q1 Financial Results Timing

Capstone will report 2012 first quarter financial results on Wednesday,
May 9, 2012 after market close, followed by a conference call and
webcast for investors and analysts on Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 11:30
am Eastern time (8:30 am Pacific time).

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian mining company with two producing
copper mines, the Cozamin copper-silver-zinc-lead mine located in
Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon,
Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects, the large
scale 70% owned Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold project in Chile in
partnership with Korea Resources Corporation and the 100% owned Kutcho
copper-zinc-gold-silver project in British Columbia, as well as
exploration at properties in Australia, British Columbia, Chile and
Mexico. Using its cash flow and strong balance sheet as a springboard,
Capstone aims to grow organically through continued mineral resource
and reserve expansions and through acquisitions in politically stable,
mining-friendly regions. Additional information is available at www.capstonemining.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the
meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking
statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date
of this document and Capstone Mining Corp. (the "Company") does not
intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these
forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable
securities legislation.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance
and reflect Company management's expectations or beliefs regarding
future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with
respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources,
the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of
estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures,
success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated
reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on
insurance coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not
expect", "is expected", "outlook", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or
"believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that
certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or
"will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these
terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain
forward-looking statements are identified by words including
"scheduled", "guidance", "plan" and "expected. By their very nature
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among
others, risks related to actual results of current exploration
activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined; future prices of mineral resources; possible variations in ore
reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents, dependence on key
personnel, labour pool constraints, labour disputes; delays in
obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of
development or construction activities; and other risks of the mining
industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the
Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's
discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and
available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from
those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other
factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking
statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward looking statements.

National Instrument 43-101 Compliance

Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical
information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on
information contained in the technical reports, news releases and
MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under
Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by or under the supervision of a
qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National
Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities
Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the
Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information.
Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral
reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure
Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should
not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information
is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the
Disclosure Documents.

The disclosure of the technical information contained in this news
release has been reviewed and approved by John Sagman, P. Eng.,
Capstone's Vice President, Technical Services, a Qualified Person under
NI 43-101. In addition, Gregg Bush, Senior Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer for Capstone reviewed all technical information in
this news release.